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Just a few days after a gathering of New Yorker cartoonists in Brooklyn (for the Not Ok exhibit) there was another gathering — this one last night at 1 World Trade Center. Conde Nast, The New Yorker’s parent company hosted at get-together to introduce its new Cartoon Bank team to the artists. In the photo above from left to right: Felipe Galindo, Liana Finck, Colin Stokes, Jeremy Nguyen, Colin Tom, Farley Katz, Robert Leighton, and Ben Schwartz.

Above: the placard greeting visitors to the event.

Liza Donnelly provided all the photos here as well as this synopsis of the event:

We were greeted with glasses of wine and fancy little bites of food served on trays, and met by very friendly folks from Condé Nast. At 6:00 on the dot, there were already around six cartoonists there, and many more started filtering in — the number reaching probably 30+ cartoonists. Everyone seemed so happy to be able to just hang out with each other and catch up. I saw friends I hadn’t seen for decades, and met new friends. It was a lovely mixture of new cartoonists and seasoned cartoonists, talking together. Remarks were made by our Condé Nast hosts, as well as from New Yorker editor David Remnick, who went casual in a short sleeved shirt. New cartoon editor, Emma Allen also spoke and welcomed the cartoonists.

There were classic cartoons framed on the gallery wall (all art from those in attendance). Interestingly, the breathtaking view from the 34th floor of the World Trade Center where the event was held quickly took a back seat to talking and laughing with pals. The whole evening had a fun buzz- and by 8:30 when I left, a large group was still lingering.

The Monday Tilley Watch is a meandering take on the cartoons in the current issue of The New Yorker.

October already? Well yes — that’s the way it is on magazine covers. Always one week ahead of reality (or if it’s a monthly, one month ahead of reality). The cover of this weeks issue, graphically speaking, reminded me of Gretchen Dow Simpson’s work (she did 58 covers for the New Yorker). A number of Ms. Simpson’s covers involved stairs, and all the wonderful shadows and angles associated with stairs. She did one New York City stoop cover as well (it was this cover that came to mind when I first saw the latest one by Kadir Nelson. Like Mr. Nelson’s, Ms. Simpson’s cover has a somber cast of its own.

I note while zooming though the Goings On About Town the ad for Spielberg (“Direct From the Heart”) — he looks a little like John Lennon there, specifically the photo of Mr. Lennon taken outside Mr. Lennon’s New York City Bank Street address.

Spielberg and Mr. Lennon (with stethoscope):

Okay, now in to the issue and onto the cartoons. The first, on page 20, is by Barbara Smaller, who began contributing to the New Yorker in 1996. An excellent sizing of Ms. Smaller’s drawing — we can really see her work here. It’s funny, but with this kind of space, her work makes me think somewhat of the late great Robert Weber’s. Perhaps it’s the caption, or tone of the caption — very Webery (Webbery?). Google search Robert Weber New Yorker images and you’ll get an eyeful. I’d direct you to a Weber collection but, sigh, there never was one (some day I hope!).

Four pages later is a mob drawing by relative newbie, Christian Lowe (first New Yorker appearance: February 2016). Again, nice placement on the page. The caption forced me to visualize cinematic baseball bat moments involving mobsters. Did Robert De Niro’s Al Capone do a bat flip in that memorable scene from The Untouchables? Nope.

Four pages later a rapunzel drawing by J.A.K. (Jason Adam Katzenstein). Mr. Katzenstein (first New Yorker drawing: 2014) manages, in a two-part drawing no less, and using barely any of Rapunzel’s tower or hair, to succinctly convey an idea. Most cartoonists would show the whole tower and all the hair, as well as the sun, and Icarus. In this case, not necessary. J.A.K.’s drawing is immediately followed by a two page color spread by Roz Chast (her work began appearing in the magazine in 1978). An incident taken from a day in Ms. Chast’s life, involving a knife. Three pages later a drawing by — I believe! — a brand new newbie, Jon Adams. The drawing features a burning bed that is in no way connected to the 1984 Farrah Fawcett film, The Burning Bed.

Two pages later, an Avi Steinberg drawing set in one of a cartoonist’s best friend scenarios: the doctor’s office. I toyed with the idea that the caption should read “Just as I suspected. This thing makes everything louder” instead of the published “Just as I suspected. These things make everything louder” — it’s the kind of brow furrowing decision-making that makes this cartoon biz so darn demanding.

Four pages later, the distinctive work of Lars Kenseth (first New Yorker cartoon: 2016). Sharks! I wish we could see a Kenseth shark some day. In this case the fins suffice. The fellow in the foreground is holding a small piece of wood. I appreciate the care Mr. Kenseth has taken drawing that little piece of wood — the detail makes me laugh.

After another four pages is a well placed Paul Noth drawing incorporating a wee bit of color. Mr. Noth’s first drawing appeared in The New Yorker in 2004. Like Mr. Steinberg’s doctor’s office, the wise man on the mountaintop is also a favorite of New Yorker cartoonists (I’ve done a number of both, and will continue to do more — they’re like potato chips: you can’t stop at one, or even a dozen). On the very next page is a Farley Katz drawing. Mr. Katz, like Mr. Kenseth, has a truly distinctive style. You know it’s his work before you’ve had time to even wonder whose work it is (if that makes sense). There are certain cartoonists whose every drawing is akin to coming upon a blind curve — you have absolutely no idea what you are about to see. This is a very very good thing. In this latest drawing, there’s shopping action that (for me anyway) recalls the game show Supermarket Sweep. Again, Mr. Katz does not fail to deliver something unusual.

A Tom Chitty drawing follows Mr. Katz. Talk about your distinctive styling. This is a three parter, with the third part using a party punch bowl, something not seen in New Yorker cartoons very often. If there’s been a punch bowl in recent times, I can’t recall it. Please correct me if I’m mistaken. The first Chitty New Yorker drawing appeared in 2014. Three pages later, Emily Flake mashes pirates with ‘splaining. I’m curious as to where this pirate get-together takes place. It looks kind of like a lodge, or a finished basement. Ms. Flake’s first New Yorker cartoon appeared in 2008. On the very next page is a BEK (Bruce Eric Kaplan) drawing. Another distinctive stylist with the added bonus of some of the best written captions the magazine publishes. They just flow. Mr. Kaplan’s first New Yorker cartoon appeared in 1991.

Eight pages later, the final drawing of the issue (not counting the Caption Contest drawings) and it’s by newbie, Teresa Burns Parkhurst. Technically not Ms. Parkhurst’s first appearance in the magazine — she was part of last week’s caption contest. Another cartoonist’s chestnut scenario: the boardroom. This time the focus is on the always awkward situation of whether or not to tell someone they’ve some foreign body (food, usually) stuck on their face.

Courtesy of the ever-watchful eye of Stephen Nadler over at Attempted Bloggery we are treated to this beautiful ( and beautifully timed — it being the first day of Fall) Barbara Shermund cover submission that didn’t make the cut. To read more about it, go here.

Ms. Shermund’s entry on the Spill‘s A-Z:

Barbara Shermund (self portrait, above) Born, San Francisco. 1899. Studied at The California School of Fine Arts. Died, 1978, New Jersey. New Yorker work: June 13, 1925 thru September 16, 1944. 8 covers and 599 cartoons. Shermund’s later. post-New Yorker work was featured in Esquire. (See Liza Donnelly’s book, Funny Ladies — a history of The New Yorker’s women cartoonists — for more on Shermund’s life and work)

So what is an “OK”? It’s what every cartoonist submitting to The New Yorker hopes to see in their inbox at the end of the week (sent by the New Yorker‘s cartoon editor, Emma Allen). A drawing that has been OKed is a drawing that has been bought by the New Yorker.

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Cartoon Companion Rates Latest New Yorker Cartoons

The CC boys (they call themselves “Max” and “Simon”) are back with a look at the cartoons in the current issue of The New Yorker. Among the cartoons dissected are those featuring beans, huddled football players, big shoes, E.T., and a hot air balloon. I don’t always see eye-to-eye (or cartoon-to-cartoon) with many of their evaluations, but that’s part of the fun. Read it all here.

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Word went out yesterday that Lillian Ross, long time contributor to The New Yorker had passed away at age 99. Ms. Ross began her New Yorker career in 1945, and continued publishing there until 2012 (on the magazine’s blog). Her last piece in the print magazine, according to her New York Times obit, was 2011.

On a personal note, my interactions with Ms. Ross were always interesting. I first met her at a New Yorker party back in December of 1999. I summoned up my courage to walk over and introduce myself when I noticed she was sitting by herself at a small round-top table right behind me. I was on a mission in those years to interview everyone at the magazine who possibly could have known Peter Arno. She looked puzzled at first as I approached, but she broke into a grin when I mentioned I was working on a biography of Arno. She invited me to sit with her, and immediately launched into a wonderful very short Arno tale (it went into the Arno biography — she repeated the story elsewhere in print). In short, she was at the big party held (in February of 1952) to celebrate William Shawn’s official appointment as Harold Ross’s successor. Peter Arno, in attendance, asked Ms. Ross if she wanted a ride home. Mr. Shawn leaned over to her and whispered in her ear, “He’s dangerous.”

Some weeks after I’d introduced myself to Ms. Ross we were on the phone discussing all sorts of New Yorker “stuff”– but mostly Mr. Shawn’s feelings (according to her) about the magazine’s cartoons and cartoonists in general. “Ask me anything about what went on,” she said to me — “I know a lot.”

Here’s a wonderful collection of the late great Al Frueh’s theater work for The New Yorker and elsewhere. The New York Times had Al Hirschfeld, The New Yorker had Al Frueh. Mr. Frueh’s New Yorker colleague, Brendan Gill provides an informative and insightful intro. For more on Mr. Frueh, here’s a Spill piece about him, “The First New Yorker Cartoon” — posted way back in 2011.

If New Yorker cartoonists work not published in the New Yorker is your thing, then head on over to Mike Lynch’s site where you’ll find a number of Life and Judge cartoons from the 1930s. All the scans courtesy of Dick Buchanan, including the Ned Hilton drawing above (Life, 1935). Mr. Hilton’s cartoons appeared in The New Yorker from May 19, 1934 — June 15, 1957.

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Signed By The Cartoonist

Stephen Nagler’s Attempted Bloggery site has been posting signed books by some famous cartoonists, Peter Arno, Helen Hokinson, and William Steig among them. Check them out here.

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Reading Every New Yorker

And speaking of Ms. Hokinson, here’s her beautiful New Yorker cover from the summer of 1928. The fascinating blog, A New Yorker State of Mind takes a very close look within. Read it here.